Black City Council members renew call for top cop's ouster over teen's shooting

Black aldermen renewed their call Wednesday for the firing of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy over the handling of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by police officer Jason Van Dyke.

Members of the City Council's black caucus also said an independent prosecutor should be brought in to look into the way Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez conducted her investigation into the incident, which culminated this week in the court-ordered release of a videotape of the shooting and murder charges against Van Dyke more than a year after McDonald's death.

But while Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration spent months fighting in court against the release of the tape, the dozen black aldermen who gathered for a City Hall news conference stopped short of leveling harsh criticism at the mayor for his role in the situation.

Asked whether the mayor's office intentionally held off on releasing the police dashboard camera video tape of Van Dyke shooting McDonald until after he won re-election earlier this year, Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, told reporters he couldn't speculate on that.

And pressed on whether Emanuel's administration should have asked aldermen to approve a $5 million settlement for the McDonald family earlier than late April -- a week after the mayor won a hard fought runoff election over challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia -- black caucus Chairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, said "that's a question more appropriate for the mayor's office."

Questioned about what responsibility Emanuel bears for the delay in the video coming out and Van Dyke getting charged in the shooting, Ald. Leslie Hairston, 5th, said there's blame to go around.

"I think we all bear (responsibility), everybody," Hairston said. "Yesterday I heard a lot of talk about accountability, accountability, accountability. Everybody wants to be accountable. They've got to be accountable. Everybody has to be accountable."

Hairston said she will push for changes to the Independent Police Review Authority that's tasked with looking into allegations of police misconduct.

And Brookins said he would bring forward a non-binding resolution at the next City Council meeting, calling for a vote of no-confidence in McCarthy.

The black caucus called for Emanuel to dismiss McCarthy during budget hearings this fall in response to ongoing violence in their neighborhoods. Emanuel stood by McCarthy then, and many aldermen subsequently urged the superintendent to be more collaborative and respectful when dealing with issues in their wards.

Emanuel spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said in a statement that the mayor “full supports Superintendent McCarthy.

“This incident is a tragedy and it's absolutely unacceptable, but Jason Van Dyke's actions are not representative of the Superintendent McCarthy's values, or of the hard-working men and women of the Chicago Police Department," Quinn said.